


Something New

by kusunogatari



Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, Gen, Pregnancy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-17
Updated: 2019-09-04
Packaged: 2020-06-30 08:03:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,314
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19848979
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kusunogatari/pseuds/kusunogatari
Summary: For so long, dreams like these felt impossible. Never did he want to bring a life into a world like the one he knew. But...things are different now. This time...it will be better. He'll make sure of it.





	1. Beginning

After the chaos, there is quiet.

Worn and weary, Ryū sleeps soundly in her cot, the soft serenade of her heart rate monitor filling the silence. The murmur of the hospital proper is muffled through the shut door, giving the new family a little peace. For the moment there are no medics, no nurses, just…the three of them.

Seated in a chair at Ryū’s bedside, Obito stares at the new life cradled in the crooks of his arms. He’s so…small. So fragile. At first, there’d been a flicker from the past, a memory of the last time he’d held a person so tiny, so new.

It had almost made him refuse the bundle. But Ryū’s gentle coaxing helped him overcome the flinch, aiding him in adjusting their son in his arms.

Their _son_ …!

In a way, it still doesn’t quite feel real. After so long of trying, and then finally, _finally_ having new life take root. The lingering doubts, her gentle reassurances, watching as her body made room for another. And then in the matter of a few hours, after three-fourths of a year of waiting, it was over. 

He still can’t describe everything he felt when he heard those first cries.

But now, the noise and action is over. Reiji, named in trend of Ryū’s mother, sleeps soundly in the cradle of his father’s arms. A dusting of white hair is framed by a deep black along the rear and sides of his head. The few glances Obito’s gotten of open eyes showed greys darker than his mother’s, but lighter than his own.

…he has to wonder if those eyes will ever be another color.

The thought is interrupted, however, as the infant moves. There’s a light grunt, little untrained limbs wobbling as he struggles against his swaddling. Then those eyes open, staring up at the face of his father.

Obito stills.

A buried anxiety starts to build. This face has earned scorn and scrutiny since it was unmasked. How many stares, how many horrified glances? The marred surface has unnerved children and adults alike…few offer any kind of sympathy or understanding.

What will his own blood think?

Quiet gurgles bubble up the babe’s throat, still wriggling in his confines as Reiji adjusts to an existence separate from his mother. And all the while, he keeps staring, gaze thirsty for knowledge of this new world.

Obito hardly dares to breathe, waiting for the crying to start.

…but it never comes.

Instead, Reiji gives another grunt, arms struggling against gravity and novelty to reach…up? Obito knows that many a toddler enjoy grasping at hair, but…his own is hardly long enough to warrant attention. But he’s curious, so he carefully shifts his grip to bring his baby closer.

But rather than hair, Reiji makes to hold something else. A tiny hand, fingers still untrained, whispers along the ridges of his father’s right side. Greys drink in the image, exploring with all the senses he can spare as he memorizes a face that will - gods willing - be one he knows and loves for many years to come.

The touches are so soft, so innocently inquisitive…it reminds him of the first time Ryū dared to caress the hardened skin. How gentle she’d been, how reverent. She’d looked at him much the same way: without judgement, without fear…just a genuine curiosity colored with a fondness that only grew. The only one to call him beautiful.

Before he can stop it, there’s there telltale sting in his eyes, which soon well with traitorous tears. Lip trembling, he struggles against the urge to cry - who knows what reaction _that_ will bring, and he doesn’t want Reiji to wake his exhausted mother. So instead, he brings a hand (mindful of his grip) to his face, hiding behind it as shoulders quake silently in emotion.

What has he ever done to deserve this…? He thought it miracle enough to find what he found in Ryū after all he’d done, all he’d become. But now she’s given him this: something he never thought he’d have the chance to have. Something that, for years, he thought he never wanted. A new life, half his own, to mold and shape…to love and protect. So fragile a thing, so untouched yet by the cruelties of the world he faced…and faced nearly alone. 

No matter what it takes…no matter what he has to do…it won’t happen again. This life, his responsibility, won’t ever feel what he felt. See what he saw. No…this time, everything will go right. No more orphans, no more lonely children, no more hardened hearts. Together, he and Ryū will make sure Reiji has all they ever lacked. He will grow surrounded by a family that loves him, that will be there through the good and the ill. Their world is changing, even if Obito once thought that impossible.

…he thought all _this_ impossible. And yet, here they are.

Sniffling and heaving a shaking sigh, he does his best to swallow down the feeling - not to repress it, but to accept it. Baring his face, he gives a tearstained smile, leaning forward to ever so carefully rest his brow to his son’s.

“…happy birthday,” he murmurs, hearing the babe give a gurgling giggle that births a smile so wide it makes his scars ache. But that pain is all in the past. 

Now…something new must begin.


	2. Tadaima

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> He knows, now. He understands. And hopefully...it will help him do better.

...he’s been dreading this. And yet...he knows it’s something that has to be done.

There’s no revealing his intentions, insisting instead he’s going on a short walk. Won’t be gone long. Ryū gives a curious tilt of her head, reclined with Reiji in her arms, but doesn’t protest.

“Be safe.”

The well-wish earns a quirk of his lips, heading out and shutting the door with a small sigh. It’s not often he heads out on his own unless for his village-assigned tasks. There’s still something a bit...unnerving about being here. About being stared at. Whispered behind.

He does his best to ignore it.

Instead, Obito turns from the little house and makes his way to the proper village quarter. It’s one he hasn’t dared visit since his return to Konoha. Mostly because he doesn’t have much reason to.

But partly because he knows it’s largely as full as it is because of him.

...but that’s why he has to go.

A lot of things have been brewing inside him since the trip to the hospital only a few days ago. Since then, mother and baby have been healthy, if not a bit weary. And Obito has had a lot of thinking to do. A lot of reflecting. Even now, the inkling he felt when first handed his son bothers him. That memory…

...and the true realization of what he did.

Which is why, as he passes under the archway leading to the village cemetery, he knows what he has to do.

Their graves are above the typical - which makes sense. A Hokage and his wife aren’t exactly your regular, run-of-the-mill citizens. Even clan heads’ graves can pale in comparison. But even then, there’s a humble simplicity in Minato and Kushina’s gravemarkers. 

...Obito has to wonder who made the orders, given neither of them had any family left to speak for them that could.

For a long moment, he just...stands before them, reading the inscriptions over and over, looking at the date, realizing how many years it’s been. How many years...since he took their lives away. Left their newborn son an orphan.

...and now...he has a son of his own. Alongside the pride, the joy, the disbelief...is a sinking and undeniable grief, guilt...and shame. He tries to imagine being in Minato’s shoes, now. Knowing what he knows. Feeling what he feels. How he, too, would fight tooth and nail, give his life, if it meant keeping Reiji safe.

Ryū, he knows, would do the same.

He tries to imagine the fear, the fury, the fight for a life he treasures beyond his own. Not only that, but his wife’s. Minato faced a monumental threat that night: one against not only his family, but his village.

...and it was all  _ his _ doing.

Jaw clenching, Obito’s fists curl at his sides - not in external anger, but internal. What a fool he’d been...so embroiled in hate, in loss, in rage...he’d taken everything from a man who’d done his best to give him everything. Minato had his flaws - maybe he could have done something more to save him, save  _ them _ \- but in the end, he did everything he could for his team. For his village. For his family.

And it was  _ his _ actions that cost him everything. Facing him in the fourth war - seeing that understanding light cerulean eyes as he teleported to his prior student, putting the pieces together - it had stung.

But now... _ now _ he truly understands that weight. Of what he stole. What he robbed from not only Minato, but Kushina...Naruto...he tore a family apart because of his own feelings of betrayal and hurt and anger. Now that he has one of his own...understanding what he did is unavoidable. 

“...I can’t even apologize,” he then rasps, finally speaking, voice shaking. “There’s no apology in this world or the next that would begin to scratch the surface. But...I understand now. I’ve come to understand so much. Not just about you, and what I did to you. Both of you. But everyone, I…” He punctuates with a deflating sigh. “...I can’t excuse my choices. I did what I did. It was born of manipulation, but eventually...I embraced it all the same. I was cruel and angry for the sake of being cruel and angry. I wanted the world to feel what I’d felt. To lose what I’d lost. But now... _ I _ am the one coming to realize what  _ I _ took. That fear is now  _ my _ fear.

“...I have a son. I never expected to. I thought I would live the rest of my days alone, in my purgatory, while the rest of you dreamed. It was to be my penance. But I...was  _ distracted _ . Led astray. And the only reason I’m here, now...is because of her. The only reason I had to keep going was her. And now...I have another. They are...my only reasons. My world. My…” He can’t seem to find a word strong enough.

“...I’m sorry. It’s not enough, it will never  _ be _ enough, but...I want you to know how much I regret now what I did. I can’t change it. But I...I know now. I know that feeling. If someone...if they…” His sentence breaks apart, fractured by emotion. “...I would do just as you did. No hesitation. To me, nothing is more important. My life, it’s...it’s nothing without them. Had I never found her...I’d be content to disappear. There was nothing else once it was all over. I made it through that war because...I made her a promise. To see her again. And if it couldn’t be in the world of dreams...it was up to me. So I fought. And I prevailed. And now, I have this...tiny little world that’s my own. If I lost it...I would cease to exist. So I know why you laid down your life. I would do the same, now. I just...regret that I forced that choice on you.

“...maybe it’s not enough, but...I’m going to try to do better. To use what time I have left to...make amends. I know I can’t ever repay all my debts. Not in a thousand lifetimes. But...in this one I have...I want to try to make things right. I want to love my wife. I want to raise my son. And little by little, work off a shred of the debts I owe. I’ll always have this guilt. I suppose that’s part of my sentence. To live the rest of my days with that weight. That knowing. But in the end...my biggest regrets come from you. You, and my team...and my family. The only people who cared. Who I...gave up on. Because I felt you’d given up on me. I…”

Obito sighs. He’s carried on for far too long as it is, but...well, this has built up for more than half his life. And his new perspective means introspection. He’s never had much chance to voice any of this aloud...nor any reason to.

“...I’ll keep trying. It’s all I can do. But...I felt I should finally speak to you. Admit that I was wrong. Try to...somehow make this right, as best I can. I had to tell you that...I understand. I  _ know _ , now. And I’ll try to use that knowing to...be better. If I can.”

...with that, Obito finds himself just about out of words. And somehow, he feels...exhausted. And yet, perhaps...just a little lighter.

“...I’ll bring him here. Someday. Tell him the truth. Hope he’ll forgive me. He...deserves to know who his father was...and who he  _ is _ . When he’s old enough...I’ll let him make that decision for himself. Maybe...if she could still find good in me...he will too.” A long moment of silence passes, staring at their names.

“...until then...I guess I’ll say my goodbyes.” Feeling awkward, he nonetheless bows deeply over the stones, a kind of restless uncertainty in his chest as he walks away. It plagues him all the way home, still quiet as he steps inside.

And then, from another room, he hears a melodic, “Okaeri!”

Something in him stills at the word. Helps to ground him. Though still somber, he smiles softly to himself, removing his shoes and stepping in.

“...tadaima.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A wee sequel! Technically this was Meg's idea, but I liked it so much I had to write it myself...whoops. Hopefully I pulled it off okay. I tend to make characters talk a lil too much, but...then again, Obito's got a LOT on his mind, and...I feel like he'd feel able to open up to Minato, like he used to as a genin. 
> 
> idk if there'll be more to this, but since THIS idea tied into the first part, I thought I'd just make it a second chapter here. Buuut yeah! Hopefully it's passable, aha - I still get nervous writing Obito for some reason, especially when it's mostly JUST him, and his thoughts.
> 
> *skips away* Thanks for reading!

**Author's Note:**

> Some somber fluff brought to you by Discord headcanon talk! Cuz I can never say no to writing anything relating to this ship, ahaha~


End file.
